Louise Kursmark • 888-792-0030 • www.yourbestimpression.com
The 5 Most Common Mistakes in Executive Resumes…
and How You Can Avoid Them
A Special Report prepared by Louise Kursmark
A resume is not the most mysterious of documents. Most people understand that their resume should provide
details of their career history, qualifications, and skills to interest a potential employer.
Yet within that broad framework, there are few rules to follow, no firm guidelines to help job-seekers put
together the document that can have a material impact on their immediate and long-term career success.
From reviewing executive resumes for more than 15 years, I’ve come to recognize five
significant mistakes that most people make when writing their resumes. Attention to any
one—or, better yet, all five—of these areas will improve the effectiveness of your
resume and, in turn, increase the speed and effectiveness of your job search.
1. Lack of clear focus and immediate impact.
Can readers tell—immediately—who you are (your functional area of
expertise, probable job titles, and industry expertise)? Do they know—
instantly—what you’re good at and your most impressive career
achievements? If not, you’ll lose many readers who will not take the time or
make the effort to delve into the depths of your resume. Not only that, but if you
don’t establish context right up front, you diminish the meaning and impact of all the
information that follows.
2. Poor organization, structure, and format.
In today’s fast-paced world, attention spans are short. Your resume must be crisp, concise, and
compelling. It must present “sound bites” that jump off the page and have an immediate impact on the
reader. In advertising language, you must convey your “USP”—unique selling proposition—what it is
that makes you special and different from the competition.
This doesn’t mean that your resume has to be brief. It does mean that it must be well organized and
crisply presented so that readers can quickly skim through to pick